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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: Auction-Star Ferrari 625 TRC
Just two were built and then sold to a Ferrari dealer/racer in California in a unique piece of sports-car history; Monaco sale fetched $6.5 million.
The 1957 Ferrari 625 TRC, now equipped with a V12 engine, has competed regularly in vintage-racing events. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
The star of the various auctions during last week's Monaco Historic Grand Prix was this 1957 Ferrari 625 TRC sold for just over 5 million euro ($6.5 million) by RM Auctions. It is one of just two 500 TRCs built in period with the larger, 2.5-liter 625 engine. Compared with the 2-liter unit fitted to all other TRCs, the bigger unit had an additional 30 horsepower on tap.
Both cars were purchased by John von Neumann, the Ferrari distributor for California and an avid racer himself. He campaigned the two cars with considerable success, and they were later raced by the likes of Richie Ginther and Ken Miles. To extend their racing careers, both were later re-engined and one even campaigned as a Ford V8-powered drag racer.
Today, both examples have been restored with Ferrari V12 engines, effectively making them 250 TRs. The example sold by RM Auctions was owned for three decades by an American collector, who for many years raced it in historic events. Although not fitted, the original four-cylinder engine was also part of the sale. The other was recently restored and re-united with the original V12 engine fitted in the car by von Neumann back in 1958.
Over the years, we have captured both these cars at various events. This has resulted in a 24-shot gallery of the two 625 TRCs originally built for and raced by von Neumann.
For the 1957 season, Ferrari offered customers just a single type of sports racer; the 500 TRC. Powered by a two-liter engine, it was to be the ultimate development of the four-cylinder sports racer that had originally debuted in 1953. Ferrari was meanwhile working on a 3-liter V12-powered sports racer that would become available to customers in 1958.
The 500 TRC proved particularly popular on the American West Coast where it was raced in the SCCA National Sports Car Championship against Porsche 550s and Lotus Elevens. Instrumental in bringing many of these cars to North America was John von Neumann, who was Ferrari's distributor for California. He was a racer himself as well and used his connections to order two TRCs, powered by the 2.5-liter 625 engine.
Mechanically and visually, the two 625 TRCs were identical to the 17 other TRCs produced that year. The chassis was a straightforward tubular ladder frame, suspended by double wishbones at the front and a solid rear axle. Coil springs and hydraulic shock absorbers were fitted on all four corners, as were massive, finned drum-brakes. As on most Ferrari sports racers of the day, a four-speed gearbox was used.
For 1957, the Pinin Farina-styled and Scagilietti-built body of the original 500 TR was modified slightly to comply with the new Appendix C regulations, hence the TRC type name. These changes included the adaption of a tall, full-width windscreen. Also mandatory from 1957 were functional doors on both sides of the car. Whereas the 500 TR featured small blisters to clear the tall engine's cam-covers, the TRC design sported a completely smooth engine cover.
Originally developed for the 1954 Grand Prix Ferraris, the 2.5-liter version of Aurelia Lampredi's four boasted both a bigger bore and stroke. At 220 horsepower, the larger engine produced an additional 30 horsepower compared with the more commonly used 2-liter unit. Ferrari fielded 2.5-liter 500 TRs, known as 625 LMs, at Le Mans in 195,6 but these were all sold on with smaller engines, so von Neumann's two 625 TRCs were very much unique.
Von Neumann raced both cars extensively and with considerable success, although one was quickly fitted with an even larger 860 Monza engine. While very powerful and torquey, Ferrari's four-cylinder engines were notoriously vulnerable to over-revving and eventually most were swapped out for more forgiving units. This also happened to both 625 TRCs with von Neumann fitting a V12 engine halfway through 1958, the first to effectively create a 250 TR.
In new ownership, both chassis were fitted with American V8s to extend their racing careers well into the 1960s. Today, both 625 TRCs have been restored using 250 TR-specification 3-liter engines. For the value of the cars, this has hardly been an objection, as can be seen from the recent $6.5 million sale.
Both cars were purchased by John von Neumann, the Ferrari distributor for California and an avid racer himself. He campaigned the two cars with considerable success, and they were later raced by the likes of Richie Ginther and Ken Miles. To extend their racing careers, both were later re-engined and one even campaigned as a Ford V8-powered drag racer.
Today, both examples have been restored with Ferrari V12 engines, effectively making them 250 TRs. The example sold by RM Auctions was owned for three decades by an American collector, who for many years raced it in historic events. Although not fitted, the original four-cylinder engine was also part of the sale. The other was recently restored and re-united with the original V12 engine fitted in the car by von Neumann back in 1958.
Over the years, we have captured both these cars at various events. This has resulted in a 24-shot gallery of the two 625 TRCs originally built for and raced by von Neumann.
For the 1957 season, Ferrari offered customers just a single type of sports racer; the 500 TRC. Powered by a two-liter engine, it was to be the ultimate development of the four-cylinder sports racer that had originally debuted in 1953. Ferrari was meanwhile working on a 3-liter V12-powered sports racer that would become available to customers in 1958.
The 500 TRC proved particularly popular on the American West Coast where it was raced in the SCCA National Sports Car Championship against Porsche 550s and Lotus Elevens. Instrumental in bringing many of these cars to North America was John von Neumann, who was Ferrari's distributor for California. He was a racer himself as well and used his connections to order two TRCs, powered by the 2.5-liter 625 engine.
Mechanically and visually, the two 625 TRCs were identical to the 17 other TRCs produced that year. The chassis was a straightforward tubular ladder frame, suspended by double wishbones at the front and a solid rear axle. Coil springs and hydraulic shock absorbers were fitted on all four corners, as were massive, finned drum-brakes. As on most Ferrari sports racers of the day, a four-speed gearbox was used.
For 1957, the Pinin Farina-styled and Scagilietti-built body of the original 500 TR was modified slightly to comply with the new Appendix C regulations, hence the TRC type name. These changes included the adaption of a tall, full-width windscreen. Also mandatory from 1957 were functional doors on both sides of the car. Whereas the 500 TR featured small blisters to clear the tall engine's cam-covers, the TRC design sported a completely smooth engine cover.
Originally developed for the 1954 Grand Prix Ferraris, the 2.5-liter version of Aurelia Lampredi's four boasted both a bigger bore and stroke. At 220 horsepower, the larger engine produced an additional 30 horsepower compared with the more commonly used 2-liter unit. Ferrari fielded 2.5-liter 500 TRs, known as 625 LMs, at Le Mans in 195,6 but these were all sold on with smaller engines, so von Neumann's two 625 TRCs were very much unique.
Von Neumann raced both cars extensively and with considerable success, although one was quickly fitted with an even larger 860 Monza engine. While very powerful and torquey, Ferrari's four-cylinder engines were notoriously vulnerable to over-revving and eventually most were swapped out for more forgiving units. This also happened to both 625 TRCs with von Neumann fitting a V12 engine halfway through 1958, the first to effectively create a 250 TR.
In new ownership, both chassis were fitted with American V8s to extend their racing careers well into the 1960s. Today, both 625 TRCs have been restored using 250 TR-specification 3-liter engines. For the value of the cars, this has hardly been an objection, as can be seen from the recent $6.5 million sale.
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